so to speak.
do you guys heat the house or just suffer the tradition of the house? i'm pushing, so to speak, my club to invest in a simple propane heater to make the event, simply, more humane. any thoughts, for or against, a single blue flame in the house? thanks

Buddy had a good one in Alaska, He had a switch in his house that controoled the power to the outhouse. The outhouse had a fan down below to rid it of stench. a light inside and outside and a heater. Feel the urge, hit the switch, and by the time you are dressed and out to the can, the place is warm bright and stink free

First, let me say that my favorite Ray-O-Vac Sportsman three cell wide angle flashlight has been at the bottom of a two "holer" in Gun Lake, Michigan ever since my brother dropped it into an open hole in 1968.

Second, the largest wasp nest I ever saw was when I looked up while seated on a one hole outhouse near Lexington, KY when I was eight years old. It literally scared the s*** out of me as it was well over 12" across and was covered with wasps.

Now, to my story.

My dad was stationed in Iran during WWII in an area controlled by the British. He told me this story several times and each time there was a smile on his face.

The local Iranians had built a thirty-two hole all stone "facility" that experienced heavy use due to the 50,000 or so Allied troops in the area. It was surrounded by a stone wall and had over it a metal roof that did not come down to the stone wall. This resulted in about a two foot gap all around.

Each day, the Brits would pour five gallons of "petrol" into the facility for sanitation purposes. The average daytime temperature was about 115 degrees.

The "facility" in the Iranian manner did not have a seat but instead had carved out spots for a persons heels so as to properly position a persons body when they squatted to use the facility. After a meal, it was common for all holes to be in use with a waiting line outside.

Despite ample warnings about smoking, a British major is supposed to have lit his pipe while making use of the facility and the gasoline vapors ignited almost as soon as he struck the match. The resulting explosion blew the roof off, knocked down a portion of one wall and sent thirty-two a**es into low earth orbit. Many people were badly burned in very sensitive places.

The incident was both humorous and tragic due to the number and severity of injuries.

"Spooks in the privy" is a humorous tale about a prankster who installed a speaker at the bottom of a two hole outhouse.

The author was Richard M Gunn.

I cannot repeat the whole story word for word but a summary goes something like this.

After installing the speaker and hiding in the nearby bushes, the prankster would wait until one or two ladies were seated. Then he would say something like "Hey watch out! We are painting down here!" or make a noise like a wild animal and watch the embarrassed ladies run for the house.

The author of Spooks in the Privy, Richard M. "Pek" Gunn, was Poet Laureate of Tennessee.

I learned something about outhouses a few years ago that I found very handy. I was hunting out of a ranch in northern British Columbia, beautiful clear cool weather in the mid 30s, and Saturday night the temperature plummetted to about 30-35 below zero. I was dreading the trip out on Sunday morning, but was told it wouldn't be too bad out there. I just HAD to go, so off I went.
Trying to keep your pants up as high as possible, without them getting in the way, is just a matter of experience. What is really shocking is the temperature of the seat on your warm flesh. I'm not sure if I was warm enough to warm up the seat in very short order, or the nerves in my rear end and thighs just gave up trying to send messages about how cold they were, but it wasn't too bad after the first 30 seconds or so.
Returning to the ranchhouse, I was queried about how I left the seat. It turns out that if you leave the seat up, it gets cold, but doesn't get frost on it. I know from experience that the feeling of cold is temporary, but I was told in no uncertain terms to go back out and make sure that the seat was left upfor the next person, because they claimed it took all day to warm up from sitting on a frosty seat. I had no desire to alienate my hosts or hunting partner, so I did as I was told, and never did have to find out how long it took to warm up after sitting on a frosty seat.

It appears the Yoopers are different. LOL. True story: There is an old 4 or 5 story historical wooden building on the edge of the Merrimac River that was famous for building boats many years ago. Their toilet facilities were, and still exist, a one holer that is cantelevered out over the river. Each floor has their own one holer. Quite a sight from the river, I can only imagine what it looked like when there were a couple of hundred people working there and they were in full use. Bob

I would much rather do the cold outside versus the outdoor facilities that were common in Vietnam...whew, those things stunk. I felt bad for the guys that had to pull out the droppings container and burn it. My guess is they were working off their Article 15's.....

Haven't done it yet,but a friend ran an electric cord to his and put a heat lamp in it.When you left to go to it you flipped a switch which turned lamp on.Just warm enough to make frost leave but not too comfy to want to stay long.

Take a Coleman lantern with a spark lighter attachment, leave it in the outhouse. When you have the need, light the lantern, put the bail up and drape a "wet/dry" towlette over the bail. Some heat from the lantern and a nice warm wipe when you're done.

Or go out when you think you might need to go, light the lantern, then go back and wait til your buddies say, "jeez, can't you take care of that somewhere else" and go out to a warm privy.